The Oakland Athletics have been baseball's greatest pleasant surprise of this season and currently find themselves in the midst of a pennant race. It's well know the A's have relied on their fantastic young pitching and dynamic offense consisting of several power hitters to put them in the position they are in right now.
However, one of their greatest sources of power in outfielder Josh Reddick have faltered as of late, and A's manager Bob Melvin thinks it could be because the 25-year-old is trying to do too much for his club.
"He [Josh Reddick] is just trying to do a little too much," Melvin said. "He's done a lot for us this year both offensively and defensively. Now you get down to the point where you are close to season's end and I think you just try to do a little too much."
In an effort to take some pressure off of Reddick, Bob Melvin dropped Reddick in the batting order to the six hole prior to Saturday's game against the New York Yankees. It didn't prove to be a formula for success on Saturday, though, as Reddick went 0-for-7 with a strikeout.
Acquired in the off-season via trade from the Boston Red Sox, Josh Reddick has hit ..245/.308/.463 in 631 plate appearances this season while clubbing 29 home runs and 28 doubles. It's been a tale of two halves, however, as the young outfielder entered Saturday with a second half triple slash line of .223/.262/.390 in 267 plate appearances.